Nicole Ouimette, Holyoke Community College student, recognized by state as one of '29 Who Shine' for 2013

Nicole Ouimette, a sophomore at Holyoke Community College and advocate for social justice, is being recognized by the state Department of Higher Education as one of the "29 Who Shine" for 2013.Submitted photo

She also believes in taking action. During her time at Holyoke Community, she has not only excelled academically but established superior credentials as a campus and community organizer.

For her accomplishments both on and off campus, she is being recognized by the state Department of Higher Education as one of the "29 Who Shine" for 2013. She will receive her award this week at the Statehouse in Boston at an annual ceremony that honors one student from each of the state's 29 public colleges and universities.

"I feel honored and proud to be representing Holyoke Community College," said Ouimette, a 22-year-old resident of Agawam, who will graduate on June 1 with an associate degree in liberal arts.

Ouimette will be accompanied to the Statehouse by her faculty mentor, Vanessa Martinez, assistant professor of anthropology. Martinez also will receive an award from the state.

"Vanessa has been instrumental in helping me to find my voice, inside and outside the classroom," Ouimette said. "She develops students as leaders on campus and in their communities. She is truly a unique teacher."

In the fall of 2011, under the guidance of Martinez, Ouimette founded an HCC club called SAAVE, Students for Affordable, Accessible and Valuable Education. As its president, she organized a speakout about student debt attended by more than 100 students, faculty and staff.

In the fall of 2012, she led a second speakout on student debt in conjunction with the Anthropology and Sociology Club, for which she serves as vice president.

On campus, she works as a peer tutor in the college's Center for Academic and Program Supports and takes notes for students with disabilities. Off campus, she volunteers for Universal Community Voices Eliminating Disparities, a Springfield nonprofit that works in low-income communities to help residents become better advocates for themselves.

Nicole M. Ouimette, of Agawam, a sophomore at Holyoke Community College, urges other students to get behind Gov. Deval Patrick's plan to boost funding for state colleges and universities during a rally at the Statehouse in Boston on March 5. The Republican / Dan Ring

In the summer of 2011, she started working as a student organizer for the Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts. She is now president of the network's executive board. In that leadership position, she worked as liaison to organize activities for Lobby Day on March 5 at the Statehouse, where she was a featured speaker advocating for increased financing for higher education.

While majoring in liberal arts, Ouimette developed an academic focus on anthropology. As a social action project in her human diversity course, she created and distributed a self-published magazine exploring the intersection of race, class, gender and sexuality in everyday life. She gathered poems, art and stories from classmates and wrote her own scholarly articles.

For an independent study, she researched ways to more fully engage community college students in the classroom and is turning that project into an article for Student Anthropologist, an online, peer-reviewed student journal.

"Both in her academic and extracurricular work, Nicole has shown that she is self-motivated and a student leader," said Martinez. "I couldn't be happier for her or more proud. She truly deserves this award."

This spring, she co-facilitated a faculty training workshop with Martinez to develop anti-oppression strategies for the classroom. She has returned numerous times to her former classes as a guest lecturer and worked as a substitute teacher at both HCC and Asnuntuck Community College in Enfield.

Ouimette will attend Westfield State University next fall to pursue her bachelor's degree in gender and ethnic studies. Her career goal is to be a college professor.